


Hart’s Pets and Supplies

by panto



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pet Store, Cheesy, First Date, Fluff, Gray has a son, Ianto makes the best coffee, Innuendo, M/M, Past Lisa Hallett/Ianto Jones, Pet Store, Please excuse my coffee joke, Puppies, Short Story, but when I reread what I wrote I just had to make Jack have innuendos in his head, confident Jack, it wasn't even intended
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-13
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-07-11 20:01:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15979442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panto/pseuds/panto
Summary: Ianto was sitting behind the counter when the little bell above the door told him that a new customer had just entered the store. Polite as he was he put the newspaper aside and quickly got up. Looking up at the customer he put on his friendliest smile, “Good morning, sir! Welcome to ‘Hart’s Pets and Supplies’. Can I help you?”Jack is looking for a good birthday present for his nephew. In the pet store 'Hart's Pets and Supplies' he meets Ianto.





	1. Chapter 1

Ianto was sitting behind the counter reading the newspaper, when the little bell above the door told him that a new customer had just entered the store. Polite as he was he put the newspaper aside and quickly got up. Looking up at the customer he put on his friendliest smile, “Good morning, sir! Welcome to ‘Hart’s Pets and Supplies’. Can I help you?”

The man standing in front of the counter didn’t look like the customers that normally came into the pet store. He looked more like a typical businessman with his suit and the black briefcase he was carrying. Oh, please, don’t let him be some sort of debt-collector!

Ianto knew his boss Mr. Hart always took his time with paying his employees and as well with paying rent and bills and literally everything else that had to be paid for around the store.

“Actually, yes”, the man on the other side of the counter gave him the most charming smile Ianto had ever seen, revealing perfectly white teeth as he spoke, “I am looking to buy a puppy for my nephew.”

Thank god! Just a regular customer!

“The dogs are in the back.” The smile that Ianto returned was rather relief now than politeness. “If you would follow me, please!”

Ianto led the man into the back of the store, where they kept the puppies. “What did you have in mind? A specific breed?”

His customer shrugged. “Honestly? I have no idea about dogs at all. My nephew wants a dog and as the perfect uncle I am, I decided to get him one for his birthday. Plus, it’s going to piss off my brother, which makes the idea even better”, he grinned as if he was a little boy playing tricks on his brother.

Ianto frowned, “How old is your nephew?”

“Eight years old today.”

“Sir, I really don’t want to offend you in any way, but that sounds like a really horrible idea”, Ianto tried to choose his words as careful as possible since he didn’t know how the customer might react to criticism. “Your nephew is obviously too young to care for an animal all on his own and if his parents don’t agree with having pets then, for the sake of the dog, I wouldn’t be comfortable with selling one to you.”

The man sighed but kept his smile, “Well, yes. I have to admit, that definitely wasn’t my best idea. The thing is the birthday party starts in about two hours and I have no idea what else to get him.”

“Then get him a toy. There is toy store just down the road, I am sure you will find something there”, Ianto suggested, “Or a cake! There is an amazing cake shop not far from here. I could give you the address if you want. And then if you still have some time before the party starts, you should try their coffee. Best coffee in the world!” He offered a quick smile, glad that his disagreement didn’t make the customer angry or upset in any way.

“You know”, the customer glanced at Ianto’s little name tag, “Ianto. I promised my nephew to bring something cute for his birthday. Now that you won’t sell me a dog how about you go to the party with me instead?”

Not only the cheesy line but also the confident grin on his customer’s face left Ianto staring at the man speechless. It took him what felt like hours to find his voice again, but in reality, it had probably only been a few seconds, “That wouldn’t change the fact that you don’t have a birthday present yet.” Ianto turned to walk back to the counter in the front of the store, “Plus, I don’t even know your name, so that would be a bit weird.”

“I’m Jack. Jack Harkness”, he introduced himself, the confident grin not fading as he followed Ianto back to the front.

Ianto just gave him a quick nod, grabbing a note and a pen when he reached the counter and started scribbling down an address. He handed the note to Jack. “Here. That’s the address of the cake shop I was talking about.”

“I take that and the fact that you forgot to write down your phone number as a no. Oh, my nephew will be so disappointed!” Jack chuckled, his confidence obviously not fading in any way.

Ianto just raised his eyebrows at the comment. “Yeah, I’m sure he’ll be heartbroken over not having a total stranger at his eighth birthday party!”, he mumbled sarcastically as he put the pen away again.

Jack laughed before grabbing a pen from the pocket of his shirt and one of the slips of paper from behind the counter starting to scribble something down as well. When he was done, he looked back up at Ianto, “Okay let me try it differently. That cake shop you were talking about; best coffee in the world, you said? How about I invite you to have a cup of coffee there, to make up for my bad idea of buying a living being just to piss off my brother and my cheesy attempts to flirt with you?”

Ianto looked at him, not quite sure what to say.

Sure, Jack was handsome. Even if he was obviously a bit too confident with himself. But Ianto wasn’t really looking to date someone at the moment. “At least you admit that they were cheesy.”

“A tiny bit maybe”, Jack chuckled, “How about this Friday, four pm?”

It took Ianto another moment to consider but then again, he had nothing to lose. And if he turned out not to like Jack at all, he wouldn’t have to see him again and at least he would get a good cup of coffee out of this, “Friday sounds fine.”

“Great”, Jack smiled at him. “I have the address, and this”, he handed Ianto the note he had scribbled down, “is my phone number. Just in case. See you on Friday at four then!”


	2. Chapter 2

During the next few days Ianto had thought about the idea of going out with a complete stranger over and over again. He wasn’t too sure about it anymore. A few times he was even close to calling Jack to cancel their date, but then in the end didn’t actually do it.

Date. It sounded so strange to Ianto. Date. He hadn’t been on a real date in a while. Not since Lisa at least. He thought he hadn’t been ready yet after their breakup. Was it even a real date? The more Ianto thought about it the more unsure he got about the whole idea of meeting Jack.

But when Friday finally came, Ianto had to admit that he was actually a tiny bit excited. But at the same time, he was nervous.

When he entered the cake shop, his hands were slightly shaking. Why was he so nervous? There was nothing to be that nervous about! Maybe it was just the fact that he hadn’t really been seeing anyone since Lisa left.

Jack was already waiting for him. He smiled at Ianto when he walked over to the table Jack was sitting at. “I’m glad you came. I have to admit I wasn’t quite sure if you’d actually show up”, Jack chuckled while he quickly offered Ianto a chair.

“Honestly, I wasn’t too sure about it myself”, he admitted as he took a seat.

“I promise you won’t regret your decision!”

“You are not short of confidence, are you?” Ianto raised his eyebrows at the other but smiled at the same time.

Jack grinned at him. “There is nothing not to be confident about here!”, he said gesturing up and down his body.

Ianto just shook his head in amusement. Jack really seemed to be confident about himself. But as long as he wasn’t going to turn out to be the ‘I am not going to talk about anything but myself’-confident kind of guy, Ianto would be fine with that. He definitely was handsome and obviously was well aware of that. So why bother?

“So, you said they have the best coffee here? Which one would you recommend?”, Jack gave him a quick smile as he grabbed the beverage menu, putting it onto the table so that both men were able to have a look at it.

“They are all pretty good. My favourites are the ‘flat white’ and the ‘long black’ though.”

Jack just grinned to himself and for a moment Ianto wondered what was going on in Jack’s head, before he blushed a bit, “We are talking about coffee here!”

“Of course we are.”, Jack tried to act all innocent but wasn’t able to hide his grin, “What were you thinking about?”

Ianto couldn’t say any more, when a waiter came over to their table and each of the men ordered a cup of coffee and a slice of cake.

 

“Anyway”, Ianto sighed, “How was your nephew’s birthday party?”

Luckily Jack turned a bit more serious again so that they were able to have a completely normal conversation. He told Ianto a bit about his nephew’s birthday and his family in general, that he and his younger brother didn’t get along too well, but that Jack still got to see his only nephew at least once a month.

Ianto told him about his family, his sister, her kids, that he actually always got along with his sister but that they weren’t as close as they used to be anymore.

Normally Ianto wouldn’t talk too much about his family or his private life, especially not on a first date. But with Jack it seemed to be fine. He turned out to be a really kind and understanding person. It seemed to be so easy for Ianto to talk to him.

The whole afternoon didn’t feel the slightest bit uncomfortable - contrary to Ianto’s expectations. They had good, ongoing conversations about anything and everything and a good laugh here and there.

Jack seemed to be a well-travelled person, who had seen a lot and had a lot of weird, yet funny stories to tell. And despite Ianto’s first impression of Jack, he really was a genuine and also really interesting person.

 

“You really didn’t exaggerate when you said they had the best coffee”, Jack decided when his cup was almost empty.

“Well, it’s at least the best you can buy around here. But you should really try my coffee some time. It’s still a bit better than the one you get here”, Ianto said only half-jokingly.

“Does that mean there will be a second date?”

“Um”, Ianto blushed a little not sure what to say. He hadn’t thought before he said that. Not that he didn’t want to see Jack again, but the question came a bit unexpected, “Sure. I mean, if you would want to as well. I mean…” He decided to just stop talking before he was going to blush even more at his slightly stammered answer.

Jack just grinned at Ianto’s embarrassment. And even though it was somehow cute how his cheeks slowly turned red and he started to stammer, Jack decided to release the Welshman, “Yes, I would love to.”


End file.
